‘What?’
‘Nothing,’ he smiles to himself.
‘You definitely have to tell me now,’ I press.
He takes a sip from his can. ‘It’s just that bonfire night is in November,’ he says slowly.
‘Oh, well done.’ I tease. ‘Can you do all the days of the week, too?’
‘I can indeed, and I can tell the time too,’ Zach retorts, spinning over to my side of the blanket and kissing me hard. His lips are salty.
‘I must make a mental note to poke fun at you more,’ I murmur.
‘Please don’t, I’m not sure my ego can take it.’
‘But if it gets me kisses like that …’
‘That kiss had nothing to do with your relentless teasing,’ he smiles.
‘Oh?’
‘For someone who told me I wouldn’t make it past our third date, it struck me that you’ve just casually mentioned making future plans with me.’
That did come out quite easily, didn’t it?
He turns onto his side so we’re both facing each other, propping his head up with one arm. ‘I’m just surprised to hear you talking about us making plans for later in the year, that’s all,’ he adds, watching me nervously. ‘It makes me happy.’
I absent-mindedly bite a nail. ‘I guess I do have previous when it comes to my aversion to forward planning.’
‘Just a bit,’ he smiles. ‘And I would never want to push you.’
‘A few months ago I thought having stuff planned out was boring at best and risky at worst. When Mum died, she and Dad had just booked a holiday for the three of us. She was so excited about it … We all were. It’s one of the things that really stood out during that time, having to cancel the holiday.’ I shake my head at the memories. ‘Dad tried to sort a refund out over email but the travel company called up when he was out one morning so I picked up. The travel operative kept saying they needed a death certificate as proof before they could issue a refund and I remember just crying down the line. Like, certificate did not seem like the right word to use …’
Zach grabs my hand in sympathy and I take a deep breath.
‘I think that’s why I’m more of a spur of the moment type of person. And then you see all these couples who have dates for stuff in the future. Like, we’ll get engaged on our two-year anniversary and we’ll be married the year after that. All that sort of stuff, you know? It always just seemed so … predictable.’
I look over at Zach. He’s watching, listening.
‘But with you I’m starting to think that it would be nice to have some things to look forward to. I’m really happy to be here with you, Zach.’
A huge smile has lit up his face in the moonlight.
‘What?’ I grin.
‘That may be the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me,’ he smiles.
I laugh. ‘It’s probably the most romantic thing I’ve said to anyone.’
‘I think the moon is smiling at us,’ Zach says, and I stare out at it for a while, making out eyes and a lopsided grin.
‘Do you think it approves?’
‘Of us? No doubt,’ Zach smiles. ‘We’ve come a long way since we first met, Alice. We’ve had so much fun and a couple of hurdles along the way but I don’t think there’s been a better date than this. I feel so lucky to have this beautiful moon shining overhead, my beautiful girlfriend curled up next to me …’
‘You charmer,’ I tease, feeling my stomach do somersaults as I snuggle further into Zach. He turns to look at me, our eyes trained on each other in the moonlight. And that’s when I know it’s time.
‘Zach?’
